Divyacakṣus

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divyacakṣus (P. dibbacakkhu; T. lha'i mig ལྷའི་མིག; C. tianyan 天眼) is translated as "divine eye," "clairvoyance," etc.

Divyacakṣus is identified as:[1][2]

  • one of five types of mundane supernatural powers (abhijñā)
  • one of the three types of knowledge (trividyā)

The Buddhist Dictionary provides the following quote from the Pali suttas:

With the divine eye (dibba-cakkhu = yathākammūpaga-ñāṇa or cutūpapāta-ñāṇa) the pure one, he sees beings vanishing and reappearing, low and noble ones, beautiful and ugly ones, sees how beings are reappearing according to their deeds (see karma): ‘These beings, indeed, followed evil ways in bodily actions, words and thoughts, insulted the noble ones, held evil views, and according to their evil views they acted. At the dissolution of their body, after death, they have appeared in lower worlds, in painful states of existence, in the world of suffering, in hell. Those other beings, however, are endowed with good action… have appeared in happy state of existence, in a heavenly world.’[3]

The divine eye also includes the ability to see things from afar.[1]

Notes

  1. 1.0 1.1 Buswell & Lopez 2014, s.v. divyacakṣus.
  2. Nyanatiloka Thera 2019, s.v. dibba-cakkhu.
  3. Nyanatiloka Thera 2019, s.v. abhiññā.

Sources